Unwanted Sterilization Results in $1.8 Million Verdict

A Connecticut jury has awarded $1.8 million to a 28 year-old woman whose surgeon inadvertently cut one of her fallopian tubes, rendering her sterile. The woman presented to the hospital in May of 2011 complaining of pelvic pain on her right side. At that time, the emergency department’s differential diagnosis included appendicitis and infection.

One week later, the woman underwent an appendectomy performed by one surgeon. During that surgery, a second surgeon – the defendant in this case – came into the operating room to operate on an abscess of the right fallopian tube. The second surgeon, who had never performed this type of surgery before, cut the wrong fallopian tube, rendering the woman infertile. As a result, the woman required another surgical procedure. Additionally, the only option for reproduction for this woman now is in-vitro fertilization which is expense and has unnecessary risks and side effects.

The defense’s position at trial was that the woman more likely than not would not have been able to conceive even absent this surgeon’s mistake because of the infection that she had when she came in. The jury rejected this argument after the patient’s attorneys showed that women with this type of infection are able to get pregnant between 85 and 90 percent of the time. The jury’s award included $190,000 for medical expenses, $1.3 million for emotional pain and suffering and mental anguish, and $310,000 to the woman and her husband for loss of consortium.

Our Maryland medical malpractice attorneys have successfully resolved several cases involving doctors who inexplicably operate on the wrong part of the body. If you or a loved one was the victim of this, or any other type of medical mistake, call us today for a free consultation at 410-385-2225.